Shade The Changing Man Vol. 1: American Scream

DC/Vertigo

Peter Milligan

Nov 19, 2009 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

Rac Shade of the alternate dimension known as Meta has come to Earth under false pretenses, but with a very real goal: to help rid our dimension of a “madness” that’s physically and psychically manifesting itself in horrible ways. His method of journeying to our world involved invading the body of another, a serial killer, who was about to be executed. The serial killer’s final victims were the parents of Kathy George. Oddly, Shade and Kathy find themselves each others’ only friend and, at least in this volume, each others’ salvation. Shade, to fight the madness, invokes madness, changing the shape of reality in physical or metatextual ways.

Shade the Changing Man is a weird book, by design. It was part of the initial wave of Vertigo titles, back when Vertigo itself was weird, new, exciting, and odd. It may be Peter Milligan’s finest work, which is saying a lot, since Mr. Milligan continues to write well-received comics. It’s also an example of Chris Bachalo’s earlier artwork; current fans of Bachalo likely won’t recognize it. But it’s good—and often downright creepy—artwork nonetheless.

This initial collection sets the stage for a rather long series, and does it well. There are very tangible conflicts between Shade and Kathy that resonate realistically, and rather strange conflicts with “the madness” permeating the American landscape that show real horror and invoke horrific fantasy as well. The JFK Sphinx—a giant Jack Kennedy head whose constant Sphinx riddle is “who killed JFK”—is pretty indicative of the odd situations you’ll find.

Sometimes Milligan’s big ideas are a little heady; this isn’t exactly a casual read. And sometimes the art gets a little muddy; perhaps the colors, perhaps the inks, perhaps the reproduction from a decade-old comic. Regardless, these are minor quibbles. Shade The Changing Man Vol. 1 can send you on a trip, make you feel sick, make you pine for loved ones, and even, at times, make you believe in superheroics. That’s a powerful madness. (www.dccomics.com/vertigo)

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